New bridge prompts Surf City restaurant to convert to food truck

SURF CITY, NC (WWAY) — Traffic in Surf City has been looking different lately with the new bridge and construction. One business says traffic has been looking pretty different for them too, but not in a good way.

Roland Avenue used to be a prime spot for business owners. With the new bridge redirecting traffic, not as many people have a reason to take a trip down the road.

Now, it’s not a prime location,” Spudee’s Owner Chantale Duchaine said.

Traffic cones, construction machinery, and road blocks fill the street that these businesses sit on.

Duchaine says their lease is up soon and will be moving because they do not see nearly as much traffic with the new bridge.

“Now, they’re doing the renovations on the road too, so they block the road and have cones everywhere,” Duchaine said. “By the time you get out off the bridge with the roundabout and you figure out the cone situation, you have to be really hungry to come here.”

She says Spudee’s will close its doors this weekend and put wheels to the ground as a food truck.

Mayor Doug Medlin thinks the changes will actually bring more business along this road.

“People had to come by here to get into Surf City, unless you came in the north end,” Medlin said. “So that’s going to change it around a little bit, but by us having this new bridge, I feel like we’re going to have a lot more traffic coming across.”

Medlin owns East Coast Sports, which sits on the same road as Spudees.

“We don’t have the traffic we used to have,” Duchaine said. “Now, I don’t know how it’s going to be this summer, but this spring, nobody passes in front of us anymore. So the new people who don’t know us cannot find us, or have a hard time finding us.”

Duchaine says they hope to have the food truck up and running by the middle of May.

Medlin says the town is working on changing the sign ordinances to help businesses along this road be more noticeable to traffic coming into Surf City.

Despite construction struggles, Surf City keeps on pushing through Hurricane Florence recovery.

The mayor says he hopes to be as close to fully recovered as possible by Memorial Day.

As of April 15, records show that twenty two of the thirty six beach access points had been repaired.

Medlin says beach renourishment is still going on, but hopes to be done with that by Memorial Day weekend as well.

He also says they are continuing to work on getting remaining beach access points up and running for the season.